Blacksoaked Star
by Waywatcher
Summary: Starfire has been constantly worrying about her relationship with Robin, so the three other Titans arrange for her to leave Jump for a while and stay with The Night Shadow up in Blacksoak City to sort her thoughts and relax. Meanwhile, Robin deals with the absence of his teammate, friend, and romantic interest.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans. Welcome one, welcome all! I'm so glad you could join me here! Weather you're a returning viewer or you're just joining me now for the first time, rest assured I have a show for you today, and tomorrow, and... You get the point.**

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><p>Why was it always so confusing? Why couldn't it be simple? Why was liking someone so difficult?<p>

Starfire sighed as she pondered these thoughts. 'We have been part of the same team for two years, but our relationship is still the unclear.'

The alien girl wistfully remembered the moment she had shared with him after the defeat of the evil Commander Daizo.

"Him" was Robin of course. The "stuck up, over-obsessed, try hard, drill sergeant leader of ours" as Beast Boy and Cyborg put it jokingly from time to time.

Despite everything that they had shared, despite all that they had come to understand about each other, even with a kiss in the records! Starfire still didn't know where she stood in Robin's mind. What he thought of her was a mystery to her.

"Hey Star!" called a certain half-robot. "What ya doing up here at this time of night?"

Starfire twirled around, confused, until she noticed the stars and the moon.

Had she really been out here since dinner?

"What's eating ya girl?" Cyborg asked in concern. "Not like you to brood. That's Rob's job."

"I am not the brooding. Merely trying to understand something very confusing." The alien explained.

"Shoot. I won't tell." Cyborg said. He sat down on the precipice of the roof next to the nervous girl.

"You will not tell Robin?" She whispered.

"So that's what this is all about." Cyborg sighed. He had a small grin on his face. "Robin confusing you again?"

"Again?" Starfire asked, worried. "How do you know this is not my first time?"

"It's kinda obvious when you're worried; that, and Raven tells me when you can't meditate properly, kinda a dead giveaway." Cyborg admits.

Starfire bowed her head a bit, embarrassed. "Has Robin noticed?"

Cyborg nodded. "Yeah, but he doesn't know what it's about. He refuses to ask, saying you'd tell us if it was major."

"I do not know what to do friend Cyborg. I do not know what to think. My relationship with Robin is... Complicated. Yet I do not wish it to be so. We find it hard to tell each other how we feel and it is the... Nerve-racking." Starfire spilled her worries to the metallic teen.

Cyborg gave a gentle smile. "It's fine Star, relationships are always complicated, especially when it's more than just friendship. I mean, take a look at BB and Rae. They are the epitome of awkwardness and confusion when it comes to their relationship."

Starfire sighed. "Yes. I know. Perhaps I am simply weak."

Cyborg balked. "I wouldn't go that far. Robin is more secretive than anyone else here, even Rae. So he's bound to cause confusion with anyone he knows, even more so than Raven, which is saying a lot. Maybe you just need some space from Rob, sort out your thoughts ya know?"

Starfire considered this. "Yes, perhaps that would be of some help. I would not need to worry about how to act around him if he was not around. It would be... Relaxing. Then I can return when my thoughts are sorted."

"Sounds like a plan, girl." Cyborg said cheerfully. "Now it's just a matter of where you can go and convincing Robin to let you go." His face sobered a bit. "You might still have to do crime fighting though, Robin won't let anyone of us slack off, even if we aren't around."

"I would do the fighting of the bad guys even if I had been told not to." Starfire announced proudly.

"That's my girl. Now, give me a few days to organize something for you. It's the least I can do to help ya out. I'm sure BB and Rae will be more than happy to help as well." He laughed at Starfire's anxious look. "They already know about your feelings, the only person who doesn't is Robin himself. So don't worry, we can keep your feelings hush-hush."

Starfire nodded happily and followed the metallic Titan inside.

It was glorious to have such good friends.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 complete. Starfire will be going away from the other Titans for a while. I wonder how will Robin deal with it?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans. Here we go! Time for a full chapter. Two-thousand words at least as per usual. Cyborg gets help from Beast Boy.**

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><p>"Now... Where exactly could I send Star?" Cyborg mutters to himself. He reaches to his side and pulls a wrench out of his toolbox. He tinkers with the T-Car as he thinks."Can't send her to Titans East, too many people who would tease her or hit on her there." A certain arrow-shooting Titan springs to mind. "Can't have that."<p>

"Uh... Cy?" Beast Boy says. The metallic teen hits his head on the T-Car. He didn't hear the changeling coming.

"What's up BB?" Cyborg asks.

"What are you muttering about? You've been in here since breakfast. Is everything okay?" The shapeshifter asks, worried.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Cyborg reassures his green friend. "But we need to help out Star."

"Huh?" Beast Boy says, confused at the sudden change of topic. "Okay then. What exactly does she need."

"Space."

"Space? Can't she just fly there any time?" He demands.

"No. I mean distance, from Robin." Cyborg explains.

"Ohhh. Right." Beast Boy nods.

"Problem is that I said I'd help her out, but I'm not sure where to send her."

"To relax?"

"Yep."

"I got an idea."

"Really?"

"Really."

"This I gotta hear." Cyborg chuckles.

"If you're gonna be sarcastic then I won't even bother." The changeling huffs.

"C'mon BB." Cyborg whines. "I really need help here!"

"Still not telling you!" He says turning away. "But I will arrange for Star to stay somewhere. I hope she doesn't mind staying in a small place."

"You better not be getting her a hotel." Cyborg growls.

"Of course not!" Beast Boy mutters indignantly. "She'll be staying with another hero."

"This better turn out well." Cyborg warns.

"Don't worry. My little bro won't disappoint." The changeling says confidently as he exits the room.

"Oh. Well I guess that isn't a bad idea." The metallic teen muses to himself. "Beast Boy having a decent idea... What is the world coming to?"

###

"I'm more than willing to accommodate, but are you sure she'll be okay with this? My house is kinda small. Only three rooms remember?" The cloaked boy says, speaking to his adoptive big brother over the main screen through his computer.

"Star just needs to get away a bit. She likes being outside anyways, so your house isn't a problem." Beast Boy reassures him. "Just help her out when you have time. She won't be a bother."

"Like I said, she's more than welcome to come. It's been a while since I've had company anyhow." Shadow admits wistfully.

"Heh, if there's one thing Starfire likes, it's company." The changeling chuckles. "I'm not sure when she'll leave the Tower. I need to talk with Cyborg and Robin."

"Understood." The pale boy says. "Just warn me when she leaves."

"You got it. Beast Boy out." The screen goes blank and the shapeshifter slumps in his seat slightly. "There we go." He sighs. "Just need to tell Cyborg. He can deal with Rob."

"Tell me what?" The aforementioned "Rob" says, entering the room.

"It's a secret." Beast Boy jokes. "Funny green guys and metal men only."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Robin sighs. "So when will I find out what's going on?"

"Soon." The changeling promises. "Very soon. I just need to tell Cy something."

Beast Boy struts out of the room, leaving Robin quite worried. Normally when Cyborg and Beast Boy are up to something it ends with his room painted pink or with Raven going on a rampage.

###

"You called him?" Cyborg asks, demanding an answer.

"Yep. He said it's fine." Beast Boy says, grinning. "Now you gotta explain this to Rob."

"Don't remind me." The metallic teen grimaces. "He's gonna flip."

"You get on that." The changeling says. "Good luck." 'I'm going to tell Starfire what the plan is so she can leave before Robin says no. That way Rob can't interfere.' He thinks to himself, leaving get room.

"He's making me tell Robin by myself?!" Cyborg whines. "Damnit. Why me?"

###

"Err... Robin?" Cyborg says weakly, knocking on the leader's door.

"About time." Robin growls, opening the door. "Beast Boy mentioned that you had something to tell me?"

"Uhh, yeah." The half-robot shifts nervously. "It came to my attention that Starfire has been looking a bit down lately."

"I've noticed."

"Well, I decided to help Star out, and Beast Boy volunteered to help."

"Define "help"."

"Distance."

"Distance?"

"Distance."

"Errm." Robin stalls, unsure. "What do you mean by "distance"?"

"I mean she needs some time away from us. Especially you."

...

"WHAT?"

Cyborg winces. "Yo Rob, chill. Not like she'll be leaving permanently. Just a small relaxation trip. Sort her mind out ya know?"

"You mean she already left?!"

"The sensors picked up her communicator leaving the tower a minute ago. So I'm assuming so."

Robin fumes for a few short seconds before speaking up. "Where's she going?"

"Blacksoak."

"With Shadow?"

"Yep."

"How's that a vacation?"

"Blacksoak is actually known for it's festivals and conventions." Beast Boy muses, turning the corner and standing next to Cyborg. "I hear it has some pretty nice restaurants too." He turns to look at his enraged leader. "Don't worry Rob. My little bro will take good care of Star."

"I-I" Robin stutters. "B-But what if we need her help?"

"I've already called in KF and Jinx." Cyborg says.

The masked boy growls and thinks for a few seconds before sighing. "If you think it's what's best for her, than I'll trust you."

"Thanks Rob." Cyborg smiles. "I don't think Star would be able to chill if she thought you didn't approve. Even if we neglected to mention your disapproval."

"If we're quite done here." Beast Boy says, grinning. "I better tell Little Bro that Star is on her way."

The changeling leaves quickly to use the main computer, and Cyborg escapes quickly after, not wanting to stay around Robin in his current state.

The boy wonder himself retreats into his room. Surprised at this sudden change.

'Starfire isn't going to be here for a while...' He thinks to himself. 'I can spend more time working now that I don't have to spend time with her... Who am I kidding? I miss her already.'

Robin sighs and sits down on his bed. 'Why does she need a relaxation trip? It's not like there's been much work lately, crime is rather low. I don't remember here being any major fights between her and any of the Titans, myself included.'

Fear finds it's way into his mind. 'Maybe she just doesn't want to be around us anymore? Has she finally had enough of the Titans?'

'No. I'm being paranoid.' He scolds himself. 'She'll just be gone for a while. No big deal. Right?'

'Right?'

###

"He took that better than I expected." Cyborg notes, joining his green friend for lunch. "I expected him to flat-out forbid us from sending her away."

"He's just in shock." Beast Boy explains with odd certainty. Cyborg gives him a strange look so he elaborates. "It's like when you leave a dog alone in a house. It barks when you leave and then calms down. It stays that way for a while before getting restless and worried that you might not be returning. Robin is in the calm phase right now. We'll need to keep an eye on him when he starts to grow restless."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm the animal dude. I know quite a bit about body language and such." He chuckles.

"And yet you never seem to know when you cross the line when playing pranks." Cyborg mutters in response.

The changeling sticks out his tongue at the half-robot. "So, I think we need to try our best to keep Rob distracted in order to keep him sane."

Cyborg nods. "Agreed. I think he needs time away from Star as well; mentally as well as physically."

"Why? What did you two do?" Raven asks in suspicion, entering the room.

"We gave Starfire a vacation." Beast Boy chimes.

"Vacation?" The empath asks suspiciously.

"Blacksoak City." Cyborg explains. "She's staying with The Night Shadow."

"Did Robin agree to this?" Raven asks.

"We didn't give him a choice." Cyborg says firmly. "Starfire needs the time to think and relax."

Raven raises an eyebrow. "Oddly thoughtful of you. I agree with your assessment."

"We also think it might be a good idea to keep Robin occupied so he doesn't worry. You know how he can be when it comes to Star." Beast Boy adds.

The half-demon grimaces. "Do I ever."

"So you'll help us out?" Beast Boy asks eagerly.

"I never said that." Raven huffs. "I want nothing to do with a depressed Robin."

"Aww..." Beast Boy whines. He gives Raven a pleading expression, but she is unwavering. Cyborg watches the interaction from the sidelines, shaking his head, but smiling.

"We can handle it BB. No need to drag Miss dark and gloomy into it." He says.

"But we could use the help!" Beast Boy protests. "She's good at reading emotions even without her powers, she'd be able to help out Robin more effectively than you and me combined!"

"Since when did you become so sensitive to people's emotions?" Raven murmurs under her breath, too quietly for the boys to hear.

"Well, Rae has better things to do than help your scrawny butt. Plus, we're perfectly capable of distracting Robin." Cyborg reminds the changeling.

"That, I don't doubt." Raven deadpans. "Five pies to the face in a twenty minute time frame tend to grab your attention."

"Hey! We did that once, because it was April fools!" The two other Titans protest.

"Uh huh." Raven snorts, rolling her eyes. "Not because he went drill sergeant on us?"

"Well... That might have influenced the decision a bit..." Cyborg whispers sheepishly.

"We apologized afterwards!" Beast Boy reminds her.

"I'm not saying you were WRONG to do that. I'm just pointing out that your definition of "distraction" tends to be the same as "prank"" The empath points out. "Not exactly what you're aiming for."

"Okay, so maybe we ain't the best at the whole "pleasant distraction" thing, but at least we'll give it our best shot." Cyborg announces, almost shouting.

"Here, here." Beast Boy jokes, raising an imaginary wine glass.

"Ugh. Maybe I should get involved, just to spare Robin the agony." Raven sighs.

"Ouch." Beast Boy gasps. "I'm offended."

"You'll live." The half-demon says; rolling her eyes once more.

###

Starfire soars through the sky. The air rushes through her hair, making it flutter out behind her like a banner. The alien left Titans Tower just fifteen minutes ago with her essentials stored in a small handbag.

She smiles as she passes over a small patch of lush, green forest. Already she can feel the stress of being around Robin draining out of her body. In just four short hours she'll arrive in Blacksoak City where she'll be staying with The Night Shadow: a pale-skinned, almost vampiric looking boy with bushy, black hair and strange eyes: black irises with red pupils.

Laughing, the orange-skinned girl twirls around and performs a loop de loop. Increasing her speed, the girl catches up to a flock of birds ahead of her and flies alongside the creatures, laughing when they swarm around her. She can't remember he last time she flew with such little care. Such freedom is better than anything money can buy.

The cars below her look like beetles, the motorcycles are minuscule ants. The trees look like broccoli, and the road a snake.

How glorious it is to see the world as a bird does. Such height is frightening to some, but to one such as Starfire the feeling is intoxicating.

"Freedom... For as long as I need." Starfire muses wistfully. "Surely it will be glorious. I truly look forward to exploring my friend's city."

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 complete. Lots of pointless talk and unnecessary fluff. Everyone's favorite.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans. Enter Shadow. I know you all probably don't like OCs, but you'll just have to deal with it.**

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><p>"I don't have time for this." The cloaked boy mutters to himself. Ducking a blast of lightning, Shadow lunges forward. He stops suddenly and leaps backwards to avoid the electric barrier that manifests itself around his target.<p>

"The Meta shall reclaim you." Says Shadow's foe in a monotone. He is a tall man in a full body suit that looks very high tech. The metallic blue gives him a futuristic look and accents the bright yellow power lines that run up and down the suit. "You belong to us."

"Like hell I do." Shadow hisses. "You can't own a person."

"You were always less than a person. We gave you your abilities. You belong to us." The Shock repeats.

"Try reminding someone who actually cares." The dark boy says sarcastically. Gritting his teeth, Shadow charges into the electric barrier and tackles his target.

Sparks literally fly as the two fight. The bank around them gains some new scars from stray lightning bolts. The Shock hops backwards and lets loose another powerful bolt. Shadow swerves around the shot and charges forward once more. He unleashes a barrage of punches as he comes within striking distance.

The electricity user sidsteps the first few blows and shoots a small bolt of lightning at his target. Shadow is knocked back slightly, but despite being electrocuted he seems none the worse for wear.

'I have to finish this quickly.' The boy reminds himself. 'I need to be home to greet Starfire.'

Grunting, he rips a counter out of the floor and throws it at The Shock. Blasting it with a single lightning bolt reduces the counter to ashes, but conceals Shadow's quick approach. With one powerful kick, the fight is over. The Shock lies unconscious on the ground as Shadow quickly hacks into police communications and types the location of the criminal using a small black circle containing a miniscule white dot in the middle as his signature.

The police would recognize the symbol. He used it whenever he caught a criminal.

Sparing only a moment to shatter the power lines on The Shock's suit, the cloaked boy dashes out of the bank and leaps onto a roof. He starts running across rooftops to get back to his house as fast as possible. He needs to greet his guest.

###

"I don't WANT to go to the arcade!"Robin protests as Beast Boy and Cyborg drag him into the T-Car.

"We ain't lettin ya stay in your room all day brooding." The metallic teen huffs. "You need to have some fun and hang out for once."

"What do you mean "for once"?! I have fun all the time!" The masked boy argues.

"Doing crime research does not count as fun." The green shapeshifter sighs, rolling his eyes.

Robin mutters something about "the joy of research" but the two other Titans pay him no mind. They've taken it upon themselves to distract Robin. So distract him they will!

Sighing, Robin resigns himself to actually going somewhere. He knows that the others are just trying to keep him occupied, and he appreciates the thought, but Starfire's absence will not be so easily masked.

'I can't believe that I'm reduced to this so quickly.' The Titans' leader thinks to himself. 'I guess I'll just make an effort to distract myself and follow along with whatever Beast Boy and Cyborg come up with. I won't be reduced to depression by the absence of just one of my teammates.'

The T-Car's engine purrs as it comes online. The three boys shoot out of the tower, determined to have fun. Who knew fun required such mental strength?

From a higher window Raven watches the T-Car zoom out of the tower and over the newly installed extending bridge. No more tunnels to reach the shore.

"I hope those two don't mess up." The empath mutters, referring to the two resident pranksters. "We don't need Robin to be any more annoyed than he already is." Raven sighs and walks over to the main computer. "I better make sure Starfire arrived without incident. Robin will flip if anything happened to her."

###

"It is very cozy." The bubbly alien notes as she looks around the small house.

"I suppose that's one way to put it." Shadow says in an amused voice. He watches as Starfire flutters around the small main room inspecting the few appliances and sparse furniture. Despite Shadow not owning much, the room seemed cramped; possibly because it's barely the size of Starfire's bedroom. "I was going to go with "tiny", but that works too." He muses, almost to himself.

Starfire had arrived just moments ago at Shadow's small house. Shadow himself had only been home for a few minutes, but quickly ushered the girl inside so no passerby might wonder what she was doing there. His house was a secret, no villain knew where it was.

Both of the room's occupants were startled by the unexpected ringing of Starfire's communicator. The green-eyed girl snatches it off her belt quickly and opens it. "Yes?" She asks energetically.

"Have you arrived?" Raven's voice says in a monotone.

"Oh yes! I have indeed done the arriving. I am speaking with Beast Boy's "little brother", though they do not look similar in the slightest. Oh! Did you know that his house is cozy? It-"

"Starfire" The half-demon cuts her off. "Did you get into any trouble while traveling?"

"No. My ride was most enjoyable." She chirps happily.

"Good. That's all I called to find out. Enjoy your vacation Star." The empath hangs up quickly before Starfire can get another word in and start rambling.

"Did she not wish to hear about your house?" Starfire inquires curiously.

"She probably had something else to do and just called to make sure you are okay." He pale boy says, covering for Raven's hasty retreat. He is well aware that Raven only has so much tolerance for Starfire's ramblings.

"That is a shame. I wished to tell her all about it." She says sadly.

"You can tell her all about it when you return. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear all about it then." Shadow reassures her, trying not to chuckle.

Starfire nods and continues looking around. Honestly though, she's probably looked over everything several times already though. Shaking his head, the pale boy tugs the flying alien down to the floor.

"I'll make lunch. Don't worry about cooking anytime, I'll take care of it." Shadow says. 'That and my appliances probably couldn't handle whatever she'd cook.'

Smiling to himself, he starts making a simple meal as the alien girl turns the television on and starts watching "World of Fungus".

"To each their own." Shadow muses as he glances at the TV. "I know I ain't watching that of my own free will."

###

"I totally smashed you guys!" Robin gloats. The two other Titans just stare at the screen open-mouthed.

"Dude! I'm the best at this game! How did you beat me?!" Beast Boy cries.

"You mean I'm the best at this game." Robin teases. "You two are about as tough to beat as a couple of sea sponges."

"What? I was winning until you hit me with the sink!" Cyborg protests.

"And I was crushing you till the pickle and the scythe guy came!" Beast Boy whines.

"Just proves that I'm the best. I haven't even played this before and I managed to trash two self-appointed "masters"." Robin taunts.

The metal man and the shapeshifter fume for a minute. Suddenly, inspiration strikes.

"Well... I'm gonna bet you can't beat me at DDR." Beast Boy says proudly. "I'm great at that game."

"You wanna bet?" Robin retorts, grinning.

"I bet on Robin." Cyborg sighs. Beast Boy shoots him an angry look.

"C'mon Cy. Do you really have so little faith in me?" He complains.

"If your victory dances are any indication of your skill. Then yeah, no faith to be found here." Cyborg scoffs.

"Hah. You just don't believe you could beat me either." Beast Boy says slyly.

"Is that a challenge green bean?" Cyborg asks, standing up to full height.

"You bet it is." The green shapeshifter replies.

The three male Titans spin around and disappear into the colorful, bustling arcade in search of the famous DDR machines. It will be a battle like no other, not even the King of games could organize a competition to inspire as much awe as this one would.

###

"-and that concludes World of Fungus."

Shadow breaths an internal sigh of relief. How could Starfire stand to watch that throughout lunch? The pale boy hadn't commented though, he had been through much, much worse. The revolting show was nothing compared to some of the tortures he had experienced in his life. Plus, it had kept Starfire happy and distracted.

"Thank you for the lunch friend." Starfire thanks him cheerily. "Perhaps we could venture around the city now? I wish to acquaint myself with it if I am to be staying here."

Shadow nods. "That if acceptable, however I cannot accompany you. The Night Shadow does not venture out in public as the Titans do, so if would cause quite a commotion if I started now."

"Oh..." Starfire's eyes are downcast.

"There is something we could do though..." Shadow mentions.

"What?" The alien girl looks at him eagerly.

"If we could disguise you are bit then I could accompany you in my civilian identity without arousing TOO much suspicion." He explains.

"Oh yes!" Starfire rejoices.

Several minutes later the two teen's walked out of the bathroom. Shadow looked no different. No one ever saw his hero identity without his hood on, so no one knew what his face looked like, no matter how odd his face was. He was dressed the same as always. Black, form-fitting, long-sleeve shirt and pants. He removed his gloves to further remove suspicion as to his identity. It was difficult to conceal his physical differences thanks to his Sonic the hedgehog-esque hair which could not be tamed, so he didn't bother.

Starfire was another story. Her hair had the color altered slightly to be more orange, it was also muted slightly. Shadow had given her glasses to cover her green eyes, and her skin had been coated over with a special oil to reduce it's intense orange to an extreme tan. She had brought her own casual clothes: a purple tank top and skirt, not unlike her hero costume, but with subtle differences.

"Ready to go?" He asks in his unusually deep voice, concealing his sadness. To be perfectly honest, Shadow didn't want to leave the house. Almost everyone feared him due to his appearance, no matter how nice he was to them. The only time he left was to go to work, and buy whatever he needed once a week. No sense in going out into town and bothering everyone.

"Yes! Let us do the hitting of the town!" Starfire squeals. She was ecstatic. It was an entirely new city to explore, and she was confident that Shadow would make an excellent tour guide.

"One last thing before we leave." Shadow sighs. "We cannot go by our superhero identities. You shall go by Kori Anders and I shall use my actual name. Shatamara." (Pronounced: Shah-tah-mar-ah)

"Shatamara?" Starfire says curiously. "That is an unusual name for residents of this planet, yes?"

Shatamara nods. "Truth be told, I can't remember my real name, first or last, and I don't want to either. I don't suppose Big Brother told you about my past?"

The disguised alien shook her head.

"Long story short; my parents sold me to an organization after years of slavery to be a lab rat. I suffered through a multitude of tortures which are responsible for my enhanced physical abilities. Sometime during that four year period I forgot my real name, it just didn't mean anything to me. So I started going by Shatamara; a name I had made up myself for one of the heroes in my imagination. It helps me ignore my past."

Starfire looks slightly startled at this revelation.

Shatamara rubs his neck sheepishly. "My pardon, I did not mean to put a dampener on our excursion. Let's try and enjoy eh?"

Starfire nods excitedly, quickly regaining her bubbly demeanor. Shatamara opens the door for the alien girl and quickly follows her outside into the noontime sun.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 complete. A tiny bit of backstory on my Shatamara AKA The Night Shadow. Just to develop a bit of trust between him and Starfire.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans. Right. Time for some time on the town for the male Titans in Jump, and Starfire and Shadow in Blacksoak.**

* * *

><p>"They are most delightful!" Kori Anders AKA Starfire squeals in joy. She watches the small machines fly overhead performing numerous maneuvers and tricks.<p>

"They are called Hovers." Shatamara AKA The Night Shadow explains, amused by his friend's amazed expression. "A man by the name of Henry loves to show them off."

The two heroes are standing in the main festival square a bit off to one side. The noises, scents, and sights are truly wondrous to behold. It never ceases to be amazing no matter how many times one visits.

That is, if you can ignore the criminal network that bases itself here, but let's not dwell on that.

Starfire cheerily ran from stand to stand, investigating anything, and everything. She sampled some pastries, tried out a few hats, and browsed through the occasional bookstore. Her excitement was clear to all, and they responded with smiles and laughs in equal measure.

Sadly, their mirth would fade away quickly upon seeing the bubbly girl's escort. To him they directed fearful or nervous looks along with the occasional death glare or the presentation of a holy symbol, apparently thinking he is some sort of vampire.

Shadow, for his part, ignores the masses and keeps an eye on Starfire. He wants to be sure she stays happy and distracted. His own sufferings are not relevant is his own opinion.

"Shatamara, look at at this!" Starfire squeaks. Holding up a small crystal she smiles and angles it to create a rainbow.

The pale boy smiles at her innocent joy. Walking up to the counter, he pays for the trinket and directs the alien girl to another stand that he hopes will pique her curiosity.

The two spend a few hours in the festival square before moving on to the market. Filled with almost every food imaginable, Starfire's eyes light up at all the different options.

"Ohhh! This one has the purple!" The girl shrieks, picking up the fruit.

"It's called a grapefruit. I think." Shadow murmurs, looking around. "Now where is he?" He asks himself. It takes a few minutes of searching, but the boy eventually finds who he's looking for. Dragging Starfire behind him, he walks up to a stand selling apples. "Good day Mr. Dawn."

"Nice to see ya' boy. What are you doing out today? You normally don't come out here 'till Wednesday." The man speaking is rather large, he has broad shoulders and big calloused hands. His eyes are a startlingly bright green.

"Showing my guest around the city. I believe I've told you about her before eh?" Shadow says.

"I presume this would be miss Starfire in disguise then?" He says quietly, chuckling. Starfire's eyes widen but Shadow just laughs.

"No worries Kori. He is part of my network." The boy explains. "We can trust him."

Mr. Dawn reaches out and shakes Starfire's hand. Using the other hand he pulls out a small chain, in the center there is a small circle with a tiny hole in it.

"That symbol is how you know who is part of my network." Shadow explains to the confused alien girl. He points at the small circle dangling from the chain. "But that's not why I wanted to see Mr. Dawn."

"So what is it?" The large man asks.

"Kori here has... Interesting tastes; and you always seem to have something." Shadow chuckles.

Starfire seems confused. "There is only apples."

The man grins and pulls out a small drawer from underneath the stall. It's loaded with a multitude of different fruits.

"Mr. Dawn is the main supplier of my network. He keeps everyone fed who can't afford to feed themselves and passes on sensitive information that we can't risk trading through other means. The apples are just for the masses to buy." The pale boy says, smiling. "He keeps other products for me and a few others who don't like shopping around."

"I'd like to think I do a damn good job of keeping secrets." Mr. Dawn grins proudly. "I was the first contact Shatamara ever made, and it's a good thing too. If I didn't make him come here every Wednesday, he probably would starve himself."

"I thank you for looking out for my friend." Starfire bows.

"It's always a challenge." The man laughs. "What can I do ya for?"

The next ten minutes are spent looking through Mr. Dawn's numerous drawers finding things to Starfire's liking. Eventually the two heroes walk away carrying three dragonfruit, two spicy mustard bottles, and a sack of potatoes.

"I wonder where he got the dragonfruit from." Shadow murmurs to himself. "These are good potatoes... Perhaps I can make some chips."

"The fruit of dragons are most delightful!" Starfire cries. "I will try one upon returning to your home with my new mustard!"

'Dragonfruit and mustard? What has the world come to?' Thinks the pale boy in amusement.

###

'This is glorious!' Starfire thinks to herself ecstatically as she bites into the dragonfruit, mustard coats the skin of the odd fruit. 'I do not understand why friend Shadow does not wish to try one.'

The bubbly alien, now out of disguise, watches her new friend play something on his computer as the potato slices cook. It's some odd game where a man with a massive sword hops out of a bush every time you walk by and "spins to win" as Shadow put it.

She enjoyed her small tour of the main festival square. Though "tour" might be the wrong term. Basically Shadow just let her walk around and explained anything he seemed to think was interesting.

Finishing off her snack, Starfire sits back contentedly and ponders the events that have taken place since the morning. Cyborg and Beast Boy managed to get her a trip in less than a day, she left without informing Robin, and ventured around Blacksoak City's main festival square for a few hours.

Robin... He is the reason for this trip in the first place. Was he mad that she left without saying goodbye? Did he miss her? Or had she not been gone long enough?

No. She came on this trip to get some time away from Robin. She would worry about this later, and maybe perhaps Shadow would be willing to give advice at some point.

For now, she would just relax. She would just sit back and enjoy...

"Ding!" goes the oven.

... and eat potato chips.

###

"I totally won." Beast Boy brags.

"No way, I did." Cyborg protests.

"We didn't get to see the scores. The machines broke remember?" Robin sighs.

"Yeah... Probably was a bad idea to turn into a hippo." The green shapeshifter says sheepishly.

"I forgot I was too heavy for the machine." Cyborg chuckles in embarrassment.

"The circuit breaker shut mine down after you two broke yours." Robin mutters. "We're lucky that they didn't press charges, and that's only because we're heroes. Batman is gonna flip when he hears about this."

Beast Boy and Cyborg share a regretful glance. They didn't want to stress Robin out more than he already was, but it seems they failed.

"Though... That was fun while it lasted." Robin admits. The other two Titans grin in satisfaction, they didn't completely fail after all.

"Seeing as we never had lunch, how bout we get some pizza?" Beast Boy suggests.

"Works for me." Robin shrugs.

"No arguments here. Can't go wrong with some good old za." Cyborg agrees.

"What are we waiting for then? I want some mushrooms and peppers!" The changeling says cheerily.

Robin and Cyborg share a disgusted glance at the mention of Beast Boy's favorite toppings, God forbid he could actually have decent taste when it comes to things aside from chips and pop.

"I'm just going with meat lovers..." Cyborg mutters, trying to keep his appetite as he steps into the T-Car.

"Cannibalism!" Beast Boy shrieks as he joins Robin in the back seat.

"It ain't cannibalism cause I can't turn into the most delicious things in the worldwide you can." Cyborg teases.

"You don't know what you're missing out on." Robin comments.

"Actually I do." Beast Boy mutters. He turns to look out the window at the buildings passing by. "Before I became... This. I ate meat just like everyone else. It was only after I became everyone's favorite shapeshifter that I gave it up."

Robin stares at the changeling in surprise for a moment. Cyborg continues to watch the road, but seems slightly shocked.

"Plus, mushrooms are a million times tastier."

The tense air shatters immediately. Robin grins and shakes his head. "Like hell they do, I've had mushrooms before and I know that the only time that they sometimes taste good is in gourmet meals."

The friendly banter continues all the way to the pizza parlor. Robin and Beast Boy step out first, arguing about what mushroom-involved foods taste best. Cyborg follows along a few steps behind, happy to just stay silent and let his friends enjoy their banter.

###

"Perhaps I should make us a proper meal..." Shadow muses out loud. "Mustard-covered dragonfruit and potato chips don't really count from what I know."

"Yes! We forgot the glasses of mustard and to add mustard to the chips of potato!" Starfire cries.

"Not exactly what I was thinking," The pale boy mutters. "But hey, to each their own." Raising his voice, he continues to speak to the alien next to him. "I'll make us something substantial. Feel free to use the television or read a book, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave my computer alone."

Starfire nods so quickly Shadow worries her head neck will snap.

"I will do the watching of the fungas show!" The orange-skinned girl announces. She turns around and skips over to the television, just missing Shadow's shudder of fear.

"I'm never going to look at mushrooms or moss the same way ever again." He whispers to himself as he flips through the cupboards for ingredients, eventually settling on simple grilled cheese. After buttering the pan and slapping on the actual food, Shadow turns to watch Starfire who is enamored by her revolting show. Her wide eyes sparkle and she has a smile on her face. "It's nice to see she isn't worrying." The pale boy muses. "I would hate for her to be worried only a few hours after arriving."

The clock, reading seven o'clock, informs the boy that it is actually dinner time.

'Wow, I didn't think it was so late! I would have made a proper dinner if I had known.' He thinks to himself, feeling somewhat guilty. 'Hopefully she doesn't mind.'

Taking another look at the television, Shadow realizes that his fears are probably unfounded.

'She thinks that mustard is an appropriate topping for anything. It'll be fine.' He smiles, shaking his head once more. 'Though perhaps I could stand to try one of her meals. Who knows? I might even like it.'

Remembering how his adoptive big brother mentioned that Starfire's food has a tendency to eat other food makes the pale boy reconsider his last though.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 complete. Sorry bout the long time for uploads, exams and stuff. Hopefully this doesn't become a habit, and if it does than just yell at me until I do something about it. I'm trying to focus on Robin when I'm writing about the Titans in Jump, but failing miserably. Beast Boy is just so much easier to write about!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans. Hopefully focusing on Robin here.**

* * *

><p>Getting electrocuted was NOT something Robin had expected to happen while ordering pizza, and he certainly didn't want it to happen again.<p>

The masked boy leaps aside and rolled aside from Overload's next blast. Robin is holding Beast Boy tightly, trying to find somewhere to put down the unconscious changeling safely. Cyborg was already off to one side trying to reboot his cannon.

The electric villain had popped out of nowhere just after Beast Boy had ordered his mushroom and pepper pizza and blasted Robin's two teammates. Cyborg had been knocked back and had been trying to reboot for a while now. Beast boy had been, and was currently, knocked unconscious.

"Damn. Got to figure something out." Robin hisses to himself. The masked boy dashes out of the way of another attack from Overload and slides behind the wall of the pizza parlor. Putting down Beast Boy and pulling out freeze disks, Robin prepares to fight.

Leaping our from behind the building, Robin dives into a roll before coming up and hurling his disks at the electrical monster. They shattered on contact and spewed forth their quick-freezing mist. Soon a coat of ice had solidified around Overload's legs. Sadly, Overload is made of pure electricity aside from his main processing chip, so the ice proved to be absolutely no issue. This was proven when the electrical current flowing through the ice causes it to heat up and melt.

"Hope ya have a plan B Rob!" Cyborg calls out from across the street. A spark jumps from his cannon, which has started to steam. Cyborg curses and resumes fixing himself.

"Working on it." Robin mutters. The agile boy backflips to avoid another shot from Overload and lands on the roof of a car that was a few feet behind him.

"Overload get rid of annoying bird." The electrical monster snarls.

"I think you're going to need to update your targeting software, cause you haven't hit me once!" Robin shoots back. He just into the air once more to avoid his foe's next attack. The car he was just standing on blows up as the bolt of electricity hit it. The boy wonder pulls his cape over his head to block the shrapnel, but soon finds himself flying across the street and slamming into Cyborg after Overload swats him with an unusually solid arm (it's made of electricity, so figure that out).

"Nice going." Cyborg mutters. Another spark jumps from his arm and he resumes fixing himself.

Robin shoots him a look before rolling to his feet. He studies his foe warily. The giant electrical monster is only defeated by water, but the melted ice disks didn't provide enough.

Suddenly the solution hits him and his hand meets his face with a "smack". Fire hydrants. How could he not have thought of his before?

Pulling out a birdarang, Robin throws it towards the curb and slices the end off a hydrant, the water spills out onto the road. Overload quickly back up to avoid contact with the liquid.

Thinking quickly, Robin stretches his cape taunt and redirects the water flow up into the air and towards the electrical being. Sparks fly as it makes contact and Overload is quickly reduced to an small, hand-sized chip floating in a pool of water.

"You da man!" Cyborg cries, getting up and deactivating his repaired cannon. "Robin one, Overload zero!"

Robin grins slightly despite the pain of being thrown across the street. "Took me a moment to remember how to beat him. I must be slipping."

"If that counts as slipping than I'm fine with it!" Cyborg laughs. "That's the fastest Overload has ever been taken down!"

"But we also suffered more injuries than normal." The boy wonder replies in a semi-worried tone. He jogs over to where Beast Boy lies, unconscious, and picks him up off the ground. "Let's go back to the-"

'What the HELL happened?!' Raven's voice sounds loudly in their heads, interrupting Robin. 'Beast Boy was knocked unconscious two minutes ago, and both of you have been pumped full of adrenaline for just as long!'

'How do you know that?' Robin replies through the mental link.

'I keep tabs on all of you to make sure I know when there's a problem you can't alert me of.' Raven explains curtly. 'It requires split focus to monitor all three of you and read a book at the same time, but I managed it. So I DEMAND an answer!'

'Overload.' Cyborg says simply.

A sigh is heard over the link.

'Hey! Rob took him down real quick!' Cyborg protests. 'And if you're keeping an eye on us than why didn't you come help?'

"I did."

Cyborg whirls around in surprise to see an angry Raven standing a few feet away.

"I just managed to get here." She hisses. "Now WHY do you all look like you just went through a blender?!"

"Overload..." Cyborg repeats weakly.

Robin shakes his head, amused. "Overload got the drop on us, literally. He came down from the roof of the pizza place and knocked out Beast Boy before we could react. Cyborg got thrown across the street so I had to take on Overload by myself."

"And he did a damn good job of it!" Cyborg praises. He immediately cringes upon seeing Raven's death glare. The empath stares down the metal man for a moment before sighing in irritation.

"I'll take Beast Boy to the infirmary. You two dimwits deal with the authorities." She grumbles. She removes the changeling from Robin's grasp and flies off.

"Aww... It takes hours to fill out the reports!" Cyborg whines.

"Deal with it." Robin chuckles. "And I hate to put a dampener on an already perfect day, but I don't think we're getting our pizza."

"NOOOOOOOO!" Cyborg wails, despairing at the loss of something so precious.

###

Night falls in Blacksoak city. The street lights turn on, but the lights of every house shut off giving the city an eerie feel. It looks unsettling to a passerby, and creepy to anyone who would dare walk the streets at such a time.

Inside Shadow's house, Starfire lies in the only bed which the pale boy insisted she take. She happily reflects of the day's events. Walking through the festival square, trying a new fruit, having potato chips... What more could a girl ask for?

Robin.

...

Starfire sighs. Shadow succeeded in taking her mind off of the masked boy for most of the day, but without him to distract her, thoughts of her crush inevitably crept into her head.

What could she do? Their relationship was so... Complicated. One minute it seemed like they had some sort of connection, and the next he was back to just being her leader. On missions that was fine, she understood that, but otherwise it just didn't make sense. Why does he revert back to his commanding attitude on occasion when dealing with her? With Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy he never did that. He was extra polite around Raven, casual around Cyborg, and often cracked jokes with, or about, Beast Boy; but when it came to her he seemed to switch between attitudes at the drop of a hat.

It just doesn't make sense! Why is he-

"Starfire?"

The alien girl flinchs slightly and sits up, surprised by Shadow's voice cutting through her thoughts.

"My pardon. I did not mean to startle you." The pale boy whispers. "I couldn't help but check on you. I know you've been having... Issues lately concerning a certain teammate, so I figured you might still be awake worrying."

Starfire's head droops and her shoulders slump. "I offer the apologies, I did not mean to keep you up worrying about me."

"It's fine." Shadow murmurs careingly. "I don't technically need more than two hours of sleep, but Big Brother insists that I get more."

Starfire nods and raises her multi-shaded green eyes to meet Shadow's unusual red pupils and black irises. The guardian of Blacksoak City walks over to sit on the edge of the bed as the alien princess lies back down.

"There will be time to worry about Robin later. For now rest peacefully, and know all will work out in the end." Shadow soothes in his deep, raspy voice.

"Yes." Starfire murmurs. "My thanks friend." She closes her eyes and attempts to sleep, but worries continue to plague her despite Shadow's reassurance.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star.

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle little star.

How I wonder what you are."

Starfire listens to the words flow out of her friend's mouth, all traces of raspiness gone as he sings. A smile graces her lips as she finally allows herself to relax, listening to the boy's soothing voice. Sleep claims her only moments after he delivers the last line.

The Night Shadow looks down upon the sleeping girl, a beautiful smile on her face. A small smile stretches across his face in return. To tell the truth, he was extremely embarrassed to be singing a lullaby to someone not only older than him, but who might not have understood why he was singing in the first place; though it seemed he made the right call.

"Sleep without fear my friend. I shall watch over you." He whispers. Getting up carefully, so as to not wake the girl, he moves to the corner of the room and sits down cross-legged. His red pupils cut through the darkness with his night vision, ever on the alert for danger.

###

"That day could have gone better." Robin grumbles as he hops into bed. "First we get kicked out of an arcade, then we get attacked and I fail to protect my teammate."

Pulling up the covers he allows a small grin to form on his face.

"Thought I suppose it was a fun day... For the most part." He admits. "The arcade was fun, and Raven was priceless."

Chuckling, he remembers Raven's incessant worrying over Beast Boy when they returned, and then her refusal to admit her worry once he awoke. The poor changeling had been confused beyond belief.

"Those two... They just need to admit it already and save us the headache of dealing with it." He laughs.

This thought, while funny to think about at first, soon leads Robin to remember why Cyborg and Beast Boy had dragged him out in the first place.

"Starfire..." He whispers, looking out his window. "Are you thinking of me- I mean us- No! I mean the rest of the Titans too?"

Berating himself over his inability to phrase his own questions properly, the masked boy falls into a deep slumber.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5 complete. There we go, focusing on Robin and Starfire for the most part. Mission accomplished!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans.**

* * *

><p>Breakfast has never been so lonely for Robin. He sits at the table, staring at Starfire's empty spot. The toast on his plate is almost untouched as he contemplates his friend's absence.<p>

'I need to compensate for the lack of power when fighting.' The boy wonder notes. 'Cyborg mentioned that he called in Kid Flash and Jinx, but I haven't seen or heard from them at all.'

"Cyborg!" Robin barks suddenly, startling the metallic teen who had just sat down to play a racing game with his green friend. "Where are KF and Jinx?"

"They arrived an hour or two after we left the tower." Cyborg replies.

"Yo."

Robin spins around during and comes face-to-face with the yellow-clad speedster. The red-haired boy grins upon seeing Robin's surprised expression.

"Long time no see!" He laughs.

"Uhh. Yeah." The boy wonder replies awkwardly. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Yeah." Kid Flash zips over to the kitchen area, fixes himself some cereal, and sits down in Starfire's normal spot all within one second. "Speaking of time, how long are Jinx and myself staying for?"

"As long as it takes for Starfire to sort herself out." Beast Boy calls from the couch. "Hopefully Rob will do the same!"

Kid Flash lets out a snort of laughter at seeing Robin's furious expression. The boy wonder gives Beast Boy a glare befitting Raven herself. "I don't need to "Sort myself out"! I'm perfectly fine!" He hisses.

"Uh huh, and my name is Santa Claus, ho ho ho." Beast Boy mutters before returning his attention to the screen.

As Robin seethes Kid Flash slips quietly out of the room, not wanting to stick around with the annoyed martial artist.

"What are you implying?" Robin growls.

"Nothing." Beast Boy replies innocently. "Just that you might be confusing the hell out of Starfire and don't seem to realize it. We did mention he was the reason Star needed to leave in the first place right?" The green-skinned changeling turns to his metallic friend as he asks the question.

Cyborg doesn't look away from the game and just nods.

Steam was coming out of Robin's head as his face grew red with rage. "You're blaming this on me?!"

"Yep. Pretty much."

Robin stands there for a moment; his eyes shoot daggers at the back of Beast Boy's head as the shapeshifter returns to playing his game. Abruptly, the boy wonder turns around and stalks out of the room, nearly knocking over a certain half-demon who had just entered at the same instant.

"Alright. What happened to keeping him distracted?" Raven sighs and gives the two gaming Titans a withering look.

"Well... Uh..." Beast Boy mumbles, squirming in his seat.

"As much as Rob needs to chill out, he's also gotta consider his part in this." Cyborg jumps in to save the changeling. "If only Starfire figures out what she wants and Rob doesn't, then we're just gonna have a repeat of this at some point in the future."

Raven considers this for a moment before nodding. "Fair enough." She turns swiftly to look Beast Boy. "You're lucky Cyborg came up with a good reason." She growls.

"What did I do?" The green boy whines pitifully to the metallic-teen next to him after Raven walks to the kitchen area to make tea. He is sure to remain quiet so the empath cannot hear.

Cyborg just chuckles, not giving Beast Boy a proper response.

###

Shadow sits silently in the corner of the bedroom, watching over his sleeping friend. Suddenly, a red flash can be seen coming from under the door. The pale boy quickly leaps to his feet and silently pushes his way into the main room.

The light is well known to the guardian of Blacksoak City. He set up the system in the first place. Sadly, it is NOT a good thing.

The small flashing red light is being emitted from a small stalk rising from his computer. Pushing the stalk back into the computer causes an alert log to pop up, detailing all police alerts. The system is designed to only emit the red light when a certain level of alert is sent out.

Reading the top alert on the list causes the Night Shadow to grimace. The Shock has escaped custody once more.

Realizing that there is no way he will be able to find the electric villain in time, Shadow grudgingly shuts off the computer, goes back to the bedroom, and resumes his former position.

"Damn supervillains." He whispers, sitting back down.

And few more hours pass in silence. Shadow guards his friend as he watches the sun comes up through the window.

"Another day, another dollar." He sighs. "Time for breakfast." He walks out of the room and quietly closes the door.

A few minutes later Starfire awakens to the smell of bacon. She rubs her eyes blearily and gets out of bed. Dressing herself, the peppy alien pushes open the door to see Shadow cooking once more.

After a hearty breakfast of bacon, toast, and chocolate milk the two Titans proceed to laze about the house, generally doing nothing of interest.

The sun beats down, but the lake effect combined with how far north the city is renders the temperature to only be moderate.

Starfire is occupied with thoughts of her Robin problem, while Shadow simply dislikes leaving the house.

...

"Shadow?"

"Yes?"

"Why do humans hide their feelings?"

The pale boy sighs and leans back in his seat. "Multiple reasons, but I'd guess that fear is a big part of it. We might be happy, but if we don't think others will like us being happy then we don't show it."

"Fear?"

"Yeah. Humans are fragile compared to many other things, so we generally try to avoid trouble in any way possible. Heroes and villains are exceptions to that rule, as are the army, police, and everyday thugs, but even so that still leaves much more than half the world's population."

Starfire goes silent for a moment. "But Robin is a hero. Why does he hide himself from me?"

"Like I said, humans are fragile. We don't all live in the present either, so something bad can stick with us for a long time. We are very weary of opening up emotionally, and we are scared to get romantically involved because it is one of the most risky things a person do. It either elevates you to the top of he world, or throws you in a ditch to die."

"Oh... I was unaware that having the relationship with someone else was such a dangerous thing for you."

"Truth be told, I'm just telling you what I've seen by watching and listening to others. I've never been romantically involved with anyone myself, I would never force such a burden upon someone I cared about, but I'm still fairly good at reading behavior, so I have a decent idea of why it is so dangerous."

Starfire goes quiet again. Her green eyes are glazed and unfocused as she considers this information. "Tamerainians are much different when it comes to how we feel." She says suddenly. "We do the wearing of our organs on our clothes."

"You mean you wear your heart on your sleeve."

"Yes. We have no fear of showing our true feelings. I have been trying to be less... Extreme, when it comes to Robin, but it does not seem to be helping. I wish to make him more comfortable around me, but it seems I am being too much of the subtle."

"Actually, I think Robin is just really dense." Shadow says bluntly, with a small smile on his face.

"Oh."

"The guy couldn't tell what a flirtatious move was if it punched him in the face. According to Big Brother that is." The pale boy lets out a quiet chuckle.

Starfire couldn't help but smile. Shadow had brought up some good points and simultaneously kept the situation from becoming too serious. He was quite a good person to talk too. The alien princess felt reassured.

"What do you think I should do?" She asks.

Shadow gives her an apologetic look. "That's out of my area of expertise."

"Ah. Well thank you for the help."

"Anytime."

And comfortable silence permeates the air for the remainder of the day.

###

The clock ticks slowly, one second at at time.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Robin growls and tears his eyes away from the device. He tries to focus on the police reports in front of him. The boy wonder needs a distraction, badly. Anything to keep from thinking of her.

He stands up abruptly and leaves the room. He knows what to do, he does it all the time when he needs a distraction.

The gym doors open up and Robin steps inside. He is surprised to see that Raven is already here beating the stuffing out of a sandbag.

"Hey Raven." He says casually, hooking up his own bag.

She just nods and delivers a series of rapid kicks to the bag in front of her. What she lacks in power she makes up for in precision.

Robin turns to face his own target and starts his toughest routine. It requires fighting non-stop for a full three hours, something he only ever does when he needs to forget everything.

Raven stops her training for a moment to watch her leader. The boy has gone into a whirlwind, punching and kicking the sandbag lime it's some sort of fiend. Eventually he slows his pace, but he doesn't stop moving and attacking.

"Robin." She calls out, realizing something. "Why did you come here? I thought you were organizing reports."

"Needed a distraction." He grunts, landing a particularly nasty uppercut.

"Running away from your problems won't help." The empath informs him bluntly. "You know this."

Robin sighs and shifts to the side. He launches into a series of kicks while speaking. "I know, but emotions aren't something I'm particularly adept at dealing with."

"Tell me about it." Raven sighs. "I end up snapping at people when I just mean to ask a question, just because I'm slightly annoyed."

"I'm a bit better when it comes to irritation." Robin says. "But when it comes to anger? Not a chance."

"It also seems you have a problem with affairs of he heart." Raven points out.

"And you don't?"

Raven sighs. "Fair point."

"I guess we both need a bit of help, huh?"

The half-demon throws him a look. "Hey, you're the one who caused Starfire to leave because you confused the hell out of her."

Robin winces as he chops the sandbag with a knife hand. "Yeah. I know. You guys only remind me every five minutes."

"Then start doing something about it if you want us to stop." With that said Raven twirls about, picks up her cloak, and walks out of the room.

'Why me?' Robin whines mentally.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6 complete. Both Starfire and Robin talked it out with someone. Shadow was much nicer about it than Raven wasn't he?<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans.**

* * *

><p>"Halt villain!"<p>

The crazy man in the half-green, half-red jester outfit turns around, confused. "Whaaat? Who are yoooou?" He says, tilting his head so that it is parallel with the ground. The strange multicolored weapon in his hand whirs threateningly.

"I am Starfire! A Titan!" The alien girl states proudly. "I must ask you to put down the weapon."

The man considers this and looks up at the sun which is halfway across the sky. 'I should get lunch soon.' The man thinks to himself, not worrying about the flying girl.

"Put dow-"

"Nope!" The man quickly levels the weapon and shoots at Starfire. The orange-skinned girl drops from the sky to avoid the brightly colored shot and returns fire with a large starbolt.

The pedestrians quickly took notice of the commotion and cleared the road. The two fighters eyed their unfamiliar opponent with suspicion.

"Why do you dress like a Gabrenar Neforkorp?"

"Where's The Night Shadow? Did he decide Flip was too much for him this time?"

The man, Flip, grins at the thought.

"Ahhh yes. I have finally installed fear into his heart, he finally-"

He is silenced abruptly when Starfire socks him in the face. Flip falls to the ground, unconscious, and Starfire eyes him warily. The man dresses like a Neforkorp, who knows what trick he might have up his sleeve, even if he is unconscious.

"Nice takedown." Shadow says, walking out of an alley dragging two goons. The cloaked boy tosses them onto of Flip and scoops up the supervillain's weapon. "Did he hit you with this?".

"No."

"Good. If he had then we would have a doppelganger problem on our hands." Under his cloak Shadow grimaces to himself, remembering a few choice occasions when he was hit by the ray.

"What do you mean?"

Shadow hesitates, not wanting to tell and risk her finding out about... No, he musn't think about that. "It might be best I don't elaborate." He says quietly.

"Ah." The girl can tell he is nervous about this conversation, so she doesn't press the matter. "What do we do with the bad guys?"

"Just leave 'em. The police are fairly quick." Shadow murmurs while dismantling the weapon he still holds. "But I can't let them have this. It's never a good idea to let any government get a hold of powerful weapons."

"What do we do with it then?"

"I'll give it to The Alchemist."

"The Alchemist?"

"An old friend of mine, but it will take a while to get there. So I'm going to have to ask you to remain while I go deliver it." Shadow says sheepishly. "I normally wait until one my contacts can go, but this weapon in particular needs to be delivered as fast as possible."

"I can go." Starfire offers.

"It's best I go. I need to speak to her anyways."

The alien princess hesitates, but nods.

Shadow checks his wrist-computer. "It will take me only half a day. So I should be back by tonight. Don't destroy anything while I'm gone eh?" He says the last part with a joking smile that is almost completely hidden by his hood.

Starfire smiles in return. "I will guard the city while you are away."

"Many thanks." With that, the pale boy turns around and takes of running. He gradually builds up speed until he surpasses the speed most of the cars are driving at. Within ten minutes he is out of Blacksoak.

Well. That was unexpected.

Starfire watches the black-cloaked figure run until he is out of sight. The girl stares of at the horizon for a moment before flying back to the house. Making sure no one is looking, she slides behind the tiny house. Barely a meter of space separates it from the wall behind it, and Shadow constructed his own walls at either end of the space to give him a relatively concealed entry/exit point.

The alien girl sat down on the couch and looked around the small room. It was so small she could walk the length of it in five strides. The bedroom was twice as small and the bathroom was tiny. There were only three rooms in the whole house.

Why was she thinking about this? Mostly because she was unsure of what else to do.

Deciding to rest, Starfire flicked on the television and turned to a random channel before allowing herself to slump in her seat.

Sooooo boooored.

###

"Ugh..." Robin mutters. "Why me?"

"You're the leader." Raven replies bluntly. "Deal with it."

Robin sighs and stares down at message. It informs the boy wonder that the mayor wishes to meet jim at two o clock this afternoon to discuss something of "urgent importance".

'Urgent my foot'. Thinks Robin. 'He probably just wants to renew the Titan contract detailing the specifics of exactly what the Titans do. It never changes.'

As if reading my thoughts, Raven shakes her head and leaves.

"Why can't someone else go?" Robin growls after Raven exits. "Why does the mayor always have to ask for me?"

Sighing again, the masked boy turns around and grabs his sandwich, which has been sitting on a side table for almost an hour. For once, it doesn't have mustard in it.

He misses the mustard.

Don't get hi. wrong, he's no fan of mustard, but he misses the never-ending stream of optimism that comes alongside it. He can easily put up with the terrible taste it if means Starfire will drop by at least once.

Oh how he wishes she would come back soon, but he knows it has only been a few days. Poor Robin will just have to wait.

Glancing up at the clock, the boy wonder realizes that it is already one thirty. He needs to get going.

'Sometimes I hate being the leader.' The teen thinks to himself as he storms out of he room.

###

"And so you can see-"

Click.

"Welcome to the International Ho-"

Click.

"Do you ever wish your tiles were-"

Click.

The orange-skinned girl slumps further and further into the couch as she fails to find a channel to entertain her. Without Shadow around she has no one to talk to and no one to show her around the city because she doesn't feel comfortable going to far from the house. This isn't her city after all.

The tamerainian stops channel flipping when she comes across an old sappy romance movie. Apparently there will be a marathon of them today.

The perfect distraction.

###

"And so I would like to review section fifty-seven..."

At this point Robin just tunes out the man. They've had this conversation before and he knows exactly what the mayor is going to say. The two are sitting in the mayor's dull, brown office.

Pretending to listen, the boy wonder allows his thoughts to drift. Where do they drift to?

Take a wild guess.

The boy wonder wishes she were still around. It would give him something to look forward to upon returning to the tower. Robin never realized just how much he relies on Starfire for his happiness until that moment.

"Is that okay?" The mayor finishes.

"I will not stand for having to wait for the okay of the police to come and help." Robin says stiffly. He had been paying attention after all. Bat training. "We are heroes. We don't let others tell us when to save people, we do it no matter what."

"Yes but-"

"No "buts"". The Titan's leader growls savagely. "We will not stand for it."

The mayor sighs and nods. "Alright. I told the police chief that you wouldn't agree to it, but he insisted that I try."

"Are we done here?" The masked boy asks impatiently.

"Yes."

Robin is out of the door before the mayor even finishes saying the word. The annoyed teen makes his way downstairs and stalks out to the parking lot. He hops on his R-Cycle and drives off into the city. He needs a distraction, badly.

Winding through the city, Robin finally manages to reach rural areas on the edge of town and boosts his speed. Right now he just want to drive and forget as much as possible.

"Beast Boy and Cyborg are doing a crappy job at keeping me distracted." The boy wonder mutters to himself as he reaches a long, straight stretch of road. Turning his speed up to max, he rockets down the road letting his cape billowing out behind him.

The green land shoots past him, the features are indistinguishable due to the speed he is driving at.

'What am I supposed to do?' Robin thinks to himself. 'How I am supposed to act? Is it even okay for me to consider a relationship? I am a hero after all, my duty is to the safety of the world first and foremost.'

Questions whirl in his mind despite the teen's best efforts to ignore them.

###

"Ohhh..." Starfire whimpers as she brushes a tear away from her face. The television screen in front of her has her attention totally captured. The big dramatic screen happens, and then the credits roll. "That was wonderful." The alien remarks wistfully. "It reminds me of Tokyo..."

"Pictures of that ended up everywhere on the internet." Shadow says, stepping through the door. "People generally dismissed it as a hoax though."

"We were seen?!" Starfire squeaks.

"Yep. No one believed it though." The pale boy chuckles.

The alien girl fidgets in her spot for a moment as the credits continue to roll on the screen. Shadow slings off his cloak and immediately turns on the oven despite it being almost midnight.

"What is it?" He asks suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"You're worried again."

Starfire can't help but hang her head. Was she that obvious? "I-I don't know what to do..." She sighs. "I wish to go home and see Robin. Even these few days away from him have seemed odd to me."

Shadow nods. "Understandable."

"But I'm worried that when I return nothing will have changed..."

"You remember what I told you about humans?"

"Yes."

"Always keep that in mind. Robin will take forever to break, but he will eventually. If anyone can get him to open up, it's you."

Starfire gives a shy smile. "You really think so?"

"I know so." The hero of Blacksoak says, smiling.

A few moments of silence pass before Starfire speaks up again. "I am ready to return home." She says firmly.

"I'll alert the others." Shadow murmurs. "I can hardly believe you've only been here for three days... Or was it two?"

"I am unsure." Starfire replies, not really listening, or caring.

"When will you be leaving?"

"Now."

"It's midnight."

"I am aware."

...

"Alright then." Shadow sighs. "I'm going to miss your company, but I'm sure Robin misses it more." The pale boy walks over from the stove and pulls the alien girl into a small hug. "Don't let Robin get too uptight, and don't let Big Brother's comments bother you too much. He means well."

Starfire returns the gesture, and gives the poor boy one of her famous death hugs. "I shall miss you as well. I shall try to do the dealing with it." The happy girl zips to the back door and steps outside. "I shall be seeing you!" She exclaims cheerfully. With that said, she leaves in a streak of green light.

Shadow stands still, looking at the back door for a few moments before returning to the stove. "It was nice to have company." He whispers to himself. "She actually didn't mind visiting someone like me..."

"Robin is a lucky boy."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7 complete. I'm really mangling this story, sorry. I guess I've lost my touch due to lack of practice.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans.**

* * *

><p>"And just WHERE have you been?!" Raven roars.<p>

"I was just driving around..." Robin says weakly.

"You couldn't have called?! You disappeared for five hours without telling ANYONE where the hell you were!"

Robin looks for all the world like a child being scolded by his mother. His head is drooped slightly and his shoulders are tensed up in guilt. Cyborg, watching from a corner of the main room, tries his hardest not to laugh knowing that Raven would direct her rage towards him should he do such a thing.

"Next time I expect you to tell us when you're going to be gone for that long! Understand?"

"Yes mom." Robin mutters.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Uhh..." Robin takes a step back from the towering form of Raven. Her eyes glow a menacing red. "Ye- Yes. I understand."

"Good." The empath hisses, returning to her normal form. "I have enough to worry about with Beast Boy being out of commission. I don't need you disappearing on me as well."

"Hey! I said I was just fine!" The changeling in question pouts as he walks through the door, accompanied by the fastest kid alive.

"You still got cracks in your ribs." Kid Flash points out. "That ain't "fine"".

"I heal quickly. I'll be fine." Beast Boy whines. "Don't make me stay in bed more!"

"That didn't exactly work, so I won't bother trying." Raven huffs. Robin is confused for a moment before he remembers that the changeling was playing a game with Cyborg a day or two ago when Robin first learned that Kid Flash and Jinx had arrived. Which was AFTER the green teen got injured.

'Speaking of Jinx, where is she?' The boy wonder thinks to himself as he regards his arguing teammates.

"Guys."

Speak of the devil.

"There's a green comet heading towards the tower." The pink-haired sorceress says casually. "I believe it is a friend of yours?"

The Titans are silent for a moment before figuring out who it is.

"Starfire!" Robin cries. The masked teen bolts out the main door, disappearing from sight. The other people in the room share knowing glances before making their way to the roof.

"That's strange." Beast Boy remarks as they climb the stairs. "I would have expected Shadow to warn us, especially since she's coming back so soon."

###

Back in Blacksoak Shadow has finished cooking his meal. As he sits down a thought strikes him.

'I feel like I forgot to do something...' He thinks. 'Something to do with Starfire...'

Shrugging, the boy turns back to his tunacasserole. (For those of you who don't know, tunacasserole is noodles, cream of chicken, and tuna)

'I'm sure I'll remember soon enough.'

###

The alien princess flies quickly back to her home, not wanting to be away from her friends a moment longer. A streak of green energy follows in her wake as she heads directly for Titans Tower.

Even from this distance she can easily make out the figure of Robin standing on the roof. He seems to be staring at her. A moment later she can see the other Titans appear on the roof along with Kid Flash and Jinx.

It only takes a minute for Starfire to close the distance between her and her destination. She soon finds herself standing in front of her team, shifting nervously under the gaze of her leader.

Robin opens his mouth as if to say something, but nothing comes out. Emotion surges through him as he tries to say something, anything. Failing to do that, Robin resorts to plan B. The masked teen steps forward and pulls his friend into a small hug before quickly stepping back.

"W-Welcome back." He finally manages to say.

Starfire grins. "Many thanks for my warm welcome."

Robin goes slightly pink while the other people present chuckle quietly at his embarrassment. "Ye-yeah." The masked teen stammers. "It'll be good to have you back." An awkward silence blankets the roof as everyone debates what they should say.

"Looks like we came here for nothin." Kid Flash whispers to Jinx, glancing at the Titans. "Let's scram."

No one even notices when the two of them leave.

"Well." Cyborg says, breaking the silence. "I hope you two have straightened out your thoughts, cause I, for one, don't want this to go back to how it was before."

"I second!" Beast Boy pipes up, grinning. Raven shoots him a glare and he shrinks back, a sheepish smile on his face.

A few moments pass and everyone turns to stare at Robin.

"Wh-What?" Asks the masked teen shakily. "What are you expecting me to do?!"

"Something." Raven says dryly.

"ANYTHING." Beast Boy adds. "Just DO something."

"Why do I have to do something?!" Robin protests.

"Because YOU are the cause of this entire thing." Cyborg huffs. "We've explained this like, five times over the course of the story."

The Titans leader shuffles his feet a bit, feeling exceedingly nervous. He knows what he should do, but the doesn't want to. He's afraid.

'This must be the "fear of love" Shadow spoke of.' Starfire muses while studying the fidgety boy. 'Perhaps he needs a small shove?'

"Dude. Just kiss her or something. We all know you like her, but you're just too damn stubborn to admit it." Beast Boy says bluntly.

Everyone turns to look at the changeling for a moment before returning their gazes to Robin. The poor boy is sweating profusely, unsure weather he should take Beast Boy's advice, or just jump off the tower and save himself the humiliation.

"Uhh... Maybe we should leave for a moment..." Cyborg mutters.

"NO. He's made us deal with his problem for MONTHS and you just want to let him off the hook?! There is no way in-" Raven is cut off when Cyborg puts and hand over her mouth and drags her inside. Beast Boy follows, but shoots Robin a teasing grin before closing the door.

...

"S-So... How was your time with Shadow?" Robin asks weakly.

"It was good." Starfire replies, carefully keeping her voice neutral. "He showed me around his city."

"That's... Good." Robin's voice is obviously strained as he tries to come up with something to say.

Starfire sighs in amusement before deciding to help out her flustered friend. "Robin. I will make this very simple. Do you enjoy my company?"

"Yes." Robin answers immediately.

"Do you consider me a good friend?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel fear when I am in danger?"

Robin doesn't respond for a moment. Not for lack of knowing his answer, but more so out of surprised at the odd question. "Yes."

"Am I your closest friend?"

"Yes."

"Do you consider me family?"

"No." It takes Robin a second to realize what he said. "I-It's not that I don't like you! I-It's just that- Well... I-I..." The boy wonder flounders for a way to explain.

"Is it because you love me? You do not wish to consider me a sister?"

Silence...

Then.

"Y-Y-Yes." Robin's eyes immediately fall to the floor after his confession.

More silence...

"Robin?"

"Y-Yes?"

"As Beast Boy would say: "It took you long enough"." Robin raises his eyes, stunned, to look at the grinning tamerainian. "Could you not have said that earlier and saved us all the trouble?" She teased.

"I was afraid..." The boy wonder whispers, shifting side to side. "And still am."

"Why so?"

"You never mentioned if you return the sentiment." Robin says, looking away once more.

The masked Titan suddenly finds his head turned back around and his mouth pressed up against Starfire's. A buzz permeates his body as the kiss continues for several seconds. Eventually, Starfire priest herself away from the stunned boy.

"Does that answer your question?" She asks, grinning like a maniac.

"Yeah..." Robin replies dreamily, staring at her with a goofy smile on his face.

"No more concealing your emotions from me?"

"Of course not."

"Good. Now if I remember correctly it is well past midnight. We should be going to bed." The alien girl points this out with a tinge or irritation. She wanted to have more time to speak with Robin. Fluttering over to the door, she turns to look back at the masked teen with a sunny smile. "I will be seeing you in the morning!" And with that, she disappears down the stairs.

Robin looks at the spot Starfire occupied a moment before, his mind still reeling from the events of the last few minutes.

This was a change. One that should have happened long ago. He wasn't sure if he was ready for it, but he had procrastinated long enough. He'd be dammed if he ended up like his mentor because he couldn't come to terms with his emotions. He didn't even have to worry about blowing things up when he let his emotions surface, so he really had no excuse to deny the change any longer.

But first he needed sleep.

Robin departed from the roof and closed the door quietly behind him. He moved swiftly, but quietly to his room, knowing his teammates were probably asleep by this point, even if it had only been minutes since he saw them.

Sliding I to bed, Robin planned what he would do tomorrow. He obviously would need to speak to Starfire. Now that there was no doubt (the really hadn't been any before, but he was accepting the fact now) he could start pursuing a serious relationship with her.

Tomorrow would change his life just as much as this night had.

For once, then thought of change didn't fill the Titan leader with fear. Nervousness? Yes, but joyous anticipation as well.

The boy fell into a deep sleep, and dreamed of his future life.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8 complete. Story complete. Honestly, I'm happy to have this over with. I really screwed this one up. I haven't been updating much, and I have no inspiration. Life sucks sometimes eh?<strong>


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